The Punishment Of The Death Penalty

The death penalty is the punishment of execution, administered to someone legally convicted of a capital crime (law.cornell.edu, 2015). The first Congress of the United States authorized the federal death penalty on June 25, 1790 (deathpenalty.org, 2011). The death penalty can also be referred to as capital punishment, however capital punishment also includes a sentence to life in prison, as opposed to strictly executions. A convict can be sentenced to death by various methods including lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, firing squad, and hanging. After the death penalty was established, many debates have arisen arguing that these methods violate several of the United States’ Amendments. Select cases have been accused of violating the Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments. It is important to note that the judiciary goes through a series of processes prior to deciding a sentence for a capital crime. Many factors influencing the verdict include proportional analysis, individualized sentencing, method of execution, and classes of people not eligible of the death penalty. This paper will discuss brief descriptions of the methods used for executions, economical issues, the Supreme Court’s opinion regarding the death penalty, as well as important factors that make up the proportional analysis, individual sentencing process, method used, and determining classes of people who are not eligible for the death penalty.

Keeping a prisoner in jail for life will be very expensive considering that it costs $80,000 a year; and the bad news is that the money comes from the taxpayer's pocket. Thousands of people will attack the death penalty. They will give emotional speeches about the one innocent man who might be executed. However, all of these people are forgetting one crucial element. They are forgetting the thousands of victims who die every year. This may sound awkward, but the death penalty saves lives. It saves lives because it stops those who murder from ever murdering again (Bryant). These opinions represent some of the strongest and most influential views that proponents hold. However, if our prison system could rehabilitate more effectively, perhaps those who murdered once, could change.

Capital punishment, otherwise known as the death penalty, is a controversial subject which has been argued for decades due to the ethical decisions involved. People believe the death penalty is the right thing to do and that it is the perfect example of ‘justice’ while others believe that it is immoral and overly expensive. The death penalty is not a logical sentence for criminals, it doesn’t give them the right type of justice and it is immoral.

The death penalty is a more expensive than the alternative life without the possibility of parole option in monetary terms, time, and resources spent. It is acknowledged that there is no national figure for the exact cost of the death penalty but many states and researchers do have estimates. All of which concluding that the death penalty is the more expensive than life without parole. This option is gradually becoming more expensive with each passing years due to factors that will be discussed from an article from The Marshall Project. The death penalty is more than the physical execution of the accused, it includes money and time dedicated to having inmates on death row. Death row does automatically imply heightened security and extra expenses. Maurice Chammah in his article “Six Reasons the Death Penalty is Becoming More Expensive” states that, “Felons sentenced to life in prison may eventually be placed in the general population, but death row inmates are virtually always housed in administrative segregation, or solitary confinement…” which can mean double or more the cost than of housing general population inmates (Chammah, 2015). The time inmates can spend on death row varies from months to years with the longest being close to 40 years. People do not realize that majority of the death penalty’s cost is not a part of any budget. Instead, they are buried in thicket of legal proceedings and hours spent by judges, clerks, prosecutors, experts and law enforcement

The justice system is filled with opposition. Those who support the use of Supermax, the death penalty and the execution of those who are mentally retarded and juveniles, and those who oppose the above mentioned. The following essay will discuss all mentioned topics.

Werent we taught as little kids that revenge is never the answer? Then why is there such thing as a death penalty? "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted." This is what is stated in the 14th amendment of the Bill of Rights. So why is there still a death penalty in the United States? The first laws created towards the death penalty go as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which allowed the death penalty to be carried out for 25 different crimes. In these early times death sentences were done by means of crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. Newer ways to go about the death penalty, more nineteenth century, include hanging, electric chair, gas chamber, and lethal injection. What do all these methods have in common? Well, they are all used to execute someone who has committed an extremely wrongful crime when there are better ways to deal with such individuals. Capital punishment is barbaric and goes against what is said in the Bill of Rights. There are numerous reasons why the death penalty should be removed from the 32 states that still allow it.

The death penalty is a huge controversy in the United States. There are many different feelings regarding the death penalty. Some feel like it is the easy way out for people who have committed heinous acts, and others feel like it is the perfect justice for those individuals. An argument made by the website ListVerse explained, that people teach their children not to steal, or commit crimes because they will be sent to prison and punished (ListVerse). Completing their argument, the same website also explained that if the same child, who was taught not to commit crime, commits murder, and is sentenced to the death penalty they are taught nothing (ListVerse). It is important that the criminal justice system not only serves justice, but also deters people from committing the same offense. On the opposing side of the argument, the website Phil for Humanity explains the importance of the death penalty. Phil for Humanity points out how expensive it is to house inmates, and that these individuals are extremely dangerous to society (Phil for Humanity). This paper will discuss the pros and the cons of the death penalty in greater detail.

“Between 1930 and 2010, 5,093 people were executed in the United States. As of 2010, 35 states and the federal government authorize capital punishment” (Source #2). The death penalty has been brought to court many times. Today most states believe that lethal injection is the most humane method of execution, but some states still have the firing squad, hanging, gas chambers, and electrocution. “All jurisdictions provide for execution by lethal injections. 16 jurisdictions provide for alternative methods of execution, contingent upon the choice of the inmate, the date of the execution or sentence, or the possibility of the method being held unconstitutional”(Source

Capital punishment, more commonly known as the death penalty has been a divided issue in the United States for a long time. The argument for capital punishment is important because no problem has ever been more consistent in a society as much as crime and the reliable methods of preventing it. Currently there are 31 states in which the death penalty is legal with the primary use being lethal injection. However this leaves 19 states where the most dangerous criminals relax for the rest of their lives costing hard worked tax dollars and providing nothing back to society. I believe the death penalty should be legalized in the entire nation and I will prove why the opposing arguments do not hold up.

The death penalty does not keep crime from happening. Over the years, the death penalty has been a very major moral issue within today’s society. This particular form of punishment is usually given to people who have been found guilty of capital crime. However, penalizing an individual in this manner is not a solution to the problem. The United States is already in a tremendous amount of debt and dealing with budget shortages, so spending thousands even hundreds of thousands on ending an individual’s life because they were found guilty of a crime is absolutely absurd. The death penalty costs taxpayers way more per year than a prisoner within the general population. It is a cruel punishment against mankind and therefore should be ceased. In conclusion, the death penalty should be discontinued in the United States because it uses up tax

Capital punishment began in the mid-twentieth century and was intended for all crimes committed. Capital punishment is still practice in the United States in 38 states but used in today’s intent for more horrific crimes. Fourteen of the states have abolished capital punishment for many reasons from being unlawful to being inhumane.

In recent years, the death penalty has been a controversial topic when it comes to sentencing criminals that have committed serious crimes. Some believe that the death penalty is absolutely necessary and serves proper justice to those who commit unthinkable acts of violence. Advocates also believe that the whole argument is a matter of faith not fact and the death penalty, “honors human dignity by treating the defendant as a free individual able to control their own destiny for good or for worse, it does not treat any one person as an animal with no moral sense,”(Fein). However, others argue the cost and hassle of executions are simply not worth these acts, which are considered inhumane and cruel by many. Each execution case costs about

As for the price of court costs, lawyers, and appeals, Lee lets us know, it is but the abolitionists' and defenders of the criminals that are responsible for the interminable legal activities that run up the costs sky high. When people say, "Capital punishment costs our government too much money," little do they realize, it is the repetitive appeals, time consuming delays, and unprogressive pace of the trial that causes the bills in each case. It is not capital punishment itself running up the bills. Nowadays, the American Bar Association requires two lawyers to be present for each and every stage of the court proceedings and require both lawyers to have experience in the field of capital punishment. This costs more money because the lawyers are state appointed. I do feel though, that when one is dealing with the death penalty and a man's life is at stake, we must take the input and knowledge of two people so that things wont turn up bias or unfair. Another point mentioned by Lee is that capital punishment is most appropriate so that the innocent community members of society are kept safe. When you only

Since the 1700s, the death penalty has been a form of punishment nearly 16,000 times, although there were no executions between 1967 and 1977 when the death penalty was resumed after a Supreme Court ruling (Wilson, 2014). The methods used throughout the U. S. history has included hanging, firing squad, burning, gas chamber, lethal injection, electrocution, and the gas chamber. The gas chamber, hanging and firing squad however, are not the only options in the states where it is still available (Death Penalty Information Center, 2011).

John Grisham, an American politician, lawyer, and author once stated, “Death row is a nightmare to serial killers and ax murderers. For an innocent man, it 's a life of mental torture that the human spirit is not equipped to survive.” The death penalty, or capital punishment, refers to the punishment of a criminal convicted of a capital offense through execution (“Definition of Death Penalty”). With many criminals convicted of a capital offenses awaiting execution on death row, the death penalty has been a seriously debated topic since its reinstitution in the mid 1970s (“Reinstating”). Many in law enforcement have the view that there are positives to the death penalty, as execution serves as a form of retribution and is a direct deterrent to heinous crime. To many police officers capital punishment is a tool that assists and informs criminal justice and more specifically, law enforcement. Others believe that sentencing someone to death is not only inhumane, but is costly and there is always a chance that a person may be innocent and put to death (Drummond). In order to preserve human rights, save money, and save innocent lives, capital punishment should be abolished.